To Kill a Knight
I wrote a fanfiction about Talonsofpeace123's orphaned dragonets. Why? I just felt kinda sorry for them, so I just wrote a bit about their lives. It's centered around (mostly) Knightkiller. Here it is! Prologue War can destroy dragons, twist them, hurt them. It is like a many-headed hydra. Every time you try to cut off one of its heads, it just grows two new ones, even smarter and stronger than before. It kills the innocent, burning through history viciously like an inferno. Some dragons are affected by it more than others, however. One thing war is good at is breaking hearts. Dreamchaser used to be a peaceful NightWing. She lived with her son, Knightkiller. He was still an egg when it happened. Dreamchaser was called in to the war, since her mate, Halley (another NightWing), was killed in battle. She decided to fight in his place, since she wanted to honor his memory and help the NightWings win the war. The NightWings needed all the soldiers they could get at that point. Alone, the egg she left behind in her nest rocked faintly back and forth. It was in her cave, on the NightWing island. As a small, cobalt blue head poked up through the eggshell, another NightWing stepped into the cave. There were tears in her eyes as she put a scroll at the dragonet's feet, and a small golden badge. Dreamchaser had died in the war, her life force ebbing away at the claws of the enemy dragons. She was gone faster than she had come, going on to the next life, where she could truly chase her dreams. The badge was her badge of valor, which was given to her only living son. The dragonet looked down at the scroll. Obscure symbols were sketched across the page in ink. Though the ink itself was erasable, the truth, the sad news was not. If he could read at that point, he would have cried. He would have thrown the scroll across the cave. But he couldn't read it. He didn't know the truth. He didn't know that he would be alone for the rest of his life... Alone, without his parents... The NightWing paused, and grabbed the small dragonet in one talon, and the scroll (the badge of valor attached to it) in her other talon. She lifted off, out of the cave, filled with bad memories. Later that night, the orphanage found a crying dragonet on their doorstep, along with a scroll and a badge of valor. They took him in, and, when they delved into his future, they saw a dragonet playing with a chess set, fingering the cold wooden pieces. In one claw was a knight, which he used to bump off another knight. They named him... Knightkiller. Chapter 1 The Inter-Tribe Orphanage was located in the RainWing kingdom, where all the orphaned dragonets who parents died in the war live. Among these dragonets was a certain NightWing, who was playing chess quietly in the corner of the room. Knightkiller looked around silently. Chickadee, who was nearby, was fighting with one of the other SkyWing orphans. She was a natural fighter, who loved to engage others in combat. The wiry orange SkyWing's yellow eyes were narrowed as she swiped at the other SkyWing's claws. She used her tail to knock the other SkyWing's legs out from under him, making him fall at her feet. Nearby, Cougar was staring into a pool. Knightkiller knew she was ashamed of how different she looked, no matter how much she tried to hide it. She narrowed her eyes and slashed her claw through the water. She stalked off into the shadows, her dark yellow eyes hateful. Knightkiller felt sorry for her, since he could sense her sadness. He knew what it was like to be different. No other NightWing looked like he did, with his indigo underscales, blue eyes, and dark blue scales. He half-wanted to go over and talk to her, but decided not to. Paralyze, a SandWing dragonet, was sitting nearby. He was holding a sand cat, which was a kind of cat that lives in the desert. It purred as he scratched it gently under its chin. Nearby him, Hrollur the IceWing had her snout in a scroll, her red reading glasses precariously perched on the edge of her snout. It was about the theory that there were other planets and universes in space. She was obsessed with space for some reason. Papaya, a RainWing, was shifting the color of his scales to blend into the earth. Rich amber blotches covered him, and a burst of green blazed to life on his left flank. Knightkiller wondered whether he could change his scales, too. He concentrated hard for a moment, but all it did was give him a headache. His cobalt/indigo scales didn't change whatsoever. WillyWilly, a female SeaWing, was whacking the wall with her tail. No one tried to stop the bad-tempered SeaWing. She was just angry at her parents, who left her. She didn't have anyone to be around. Knightkiller picked up a knight piece, observing the smooth, wooden horse figure. It was carved delicately for this exact task: To take part in the game of chess. He put the knight back where it was once standing, and used it to knock another knight off the board. He stood up, and walked over to the other side. He frowned, using a rook to knock out the knight that had just knocked out the black knight. He swapped places over and over again, using each piece accordingly. Then, he put the black king in checkmate with his white queen, smoothly earning a win. Then, there was the familiar shout. "Announcement!" Knightkiller looked up, to see the main caretaker of the orphanage, the bad-tempered old SkyWing named Elwin. Behind him was an adult NightWing, who looked slightly different than normal NightWings. Her chest and underbelly was white, rather than grey. Otherwise, she was completely normal. "We have a visitor," Elwin said. "This is Starglow. She's just come to observe us." The expression on his face seemed to say, 'If you don't act nice, I will skin you alive'. "Respect Starglow... Please." He practically spat out the word 'Please'. Knightkiller sighed. He didn't care, really. She didn't have to do with him. He restarted the game, and played for a few more minutes, until... "Hello?" Knightkiller looked up, to meet the green eyes of Starglow. "What?" He asked. "Can I play a game of chess against you?" She asked him. Knightkiller was taken aback at that, but didn't refuse it. Starglow sat down on the black side, and Knightkiller remained on the side with the white pieces. Thus, they began to play against each other. Starglow was a fairly good player, but Knightkiller had played for all his life. After a while, Knightkiller finally put Starglow's king in checkmate with his knight, his queen, and his rook. Starglow looked impressed. "What's your name?" Starglow asked, reorganizing the pieces. "Knightkiller," He muttered, tucking the letter deeper into his bag, but not before Starglow saw a glint of gold. "What's that?" Starglow asked. "If you don't mind me asking." Knightkiller reluctantly pulled it out and showed her. He had read it a thousand times, knowing what it said by heart. Ever since he had learned to read, he had read it. It was all he had left of his mother. It said, To the child of Dreamchaser: Dreamchaser was killed in the line of duty. She was defending the NightWings, and saved the life of her friends by giving up her own. She has been given an official NightWing burial, and earned the Badge of Valor, for her loyalty. Be proud of her, not sad from your loss. She chose to die instead of let her fellow soldiers die. Few dragons ever do that. She fought for the NightWings, for her tribe. She shall be honored forever. The Official NightWing Army General Starglow's expression turned to shock. "You... You're Dreamchaser's son..." She looked at Knightkiller in surprise. "I-I knew her." "You knew my mother?" Knightkiller asked her. "I fought with her," Starglow admitted. "I can't believe I didn't recognize it before... Your eyes... She had the same eyes as you. The same sparkling intelligence, that seemed to burn with an icy fire when she was angry or determined, like when she gave herself up... I saw it in your eyes when you played chess against me." "What was she like?" Knightkiller demanded. "She was shy, but fairly powerful when she had to fight," Starglow said, her eyes misting over in reminiscence. "She fought for her friends, for her dead mate (your father), for her tribe. And for you. I remember... She told me to have you taken to a safe place." Knightkiller remembered those amber eyes, which had cut through his dreams like a blade. He remembered it suddenly; a NightWing had taken him to the orphanage. It hadn't been Starglow, but it was one of her soldiers. But a pair of green eyes through the trees, as he was put down on the orphanage step... That was why Starglow hadn't recognized him at first, but yet she knew his mother. "I must go," Starglow said, standing up and leaving before he could complain. He felt a little sad that he was alone again, but he just attributed that to him liking to have a foe, not himself, to play against. But really, he felt like he missed that dragon. He knew her somehow. She talked to the other dragonets for a bit. Cougar didn't say anything to her but a few monosyllabic sentences. Papaya was surprisingly talkative, after he got to know Starglow. Paralyze and Starglow both liked the sand cat, and chatted about it for a while. WillyWilly didn't say anything at all, and silently threatened to hit Starglow with her tail if she didn't leave her alone. Hrollur and Starglow talked for a bit about the theory of life on other planets, and where they were located in the solar system. Starglow taught Chickadee a new fighting move: The Rushing Slide, where she raced up and slid under her foe's belly, using one claw to slash it open. But she didn't talk to them the same way she talked to Knightkiller; it was as if she thought of him differently than the other dragonets. One by one, she went through all of the dragonets, and watched their classes. She wordlessly left at the end of the day. Knightkiller was a little afraid he'd never see her again... A few days later, the Monthly Adoption Date came along. None of them (Cougar, Chickadee, Hrollur, WillyWilly, Paralyze, Knightkiller, and Papaya) liked it. All the dragonets stood in the front of the orphanage. Interested parents came each time, choosing a dragonet to take home. They never looked twice at the group of strange dragonets, all interested in the nice, normal dragonets. But this time, it was different. "Hey," A familiar voice said. Knightkiller looked up to see Starglow, smiling softly. "Knightkiller... I have something to admit to you." "What?" He asked, tensing up. Was she going to say she denied him, and that she wanted a normal dragonet. "You know Dreamchaser?" Starglow asked. "Well... She's my sister. Dreamchaser died to save me. I was the general who wrote that letter. Not only that, but I'm your last living relative. And that means I'm your legal guardian, now that I'm out of the military." Knightkiller didn't know what he did. All he knew was that a second later, Starglow's wings were around him and he was hugging her tightly. "Your mother told me to take care of you," Starglow whispered to him. "I couldn't before. I wanted to. Oh, I wanted to. But the war... I couldn't leave my tribe." "That's alright," He whispered back. "Now, things will be different." Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon) Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Content (Starlight365)